Ayrshire Scotland Business News is provided by the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire. We publicise our members, and celebrate and report the wealth and rich diversity of entrepreneurial and business excellence that abounds here in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland. For further information e-mail Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle

Monday, 18 February 2013

Vicon UK unveils £300 million Loudoun Castle masterplan

Proposals for a £300 million redevelopment of the former Loudoun Castle theme park site in East Ayrshire have taken a major step forward.

Ayrshire-based investment, consulting and project management company Vicon UK has been joined by investor FML to launch the ambitious masterplan, which proposes a world class championship standard 18-hole golf course, club house and educational golf academy, new whisky distillery, homes, retail and a food and drink ‘centre of excellence’ for the site.

As part of the plans, the 19th century Loudoun Castle itself will be fully redeveloped as the centrepiece to create a stunning five star hotel.

Loudoun Castle theme park, near Galston, closed its doors at the end of the summer season in 2010.

Vicon UK has submitted a notice of intention to lodge a detailed planning application for the golf course and golf academy with an in-principle application for the mixed use development on the 600 acre site.

The company will now work with council planning chiefs and consult with the local community in order to progress the planning applications.

Should this planning application be successful, Vicon is confident the project will create hundreds of new jobs in the construction and related industries and will channel over £300 million in investment over five to seven years into a community that would benefit greatly from new investment.

Vicon UK has pledged that local firms and contractors will be employed to deliver the project wherever possible. Kilmarnock-based Thomson Architects have already been appointed to create the blueprint for the site.

Neil Rattray, chief executive of Vicon UK said: “Since the closure of the theme park, there has been a great deal of interest in the future of the site.

“We have been working tremendously hard over a period of many months to ensure we attracted the right investor and have put together a realistic proposal that will deliver significant economic benefit to East Ayrshire.

“These plans have been created in consultation with the owner of the site, with the interests of Galston at heart and we are convinced that the people of Ayrshire and beyond will benefit hugely from this new investment in Scotland.

“There has already been significant consultation with the local community and we are confident we have its backing for these plans.

“We have already fully engaged with local elected members and Kilmarnock and Irvine Valley MSP Willie Coffey has welcomed this investment in Ayrshire and has given the overall masterplan his backing.

“We are committed to making this project a success and we will now work with our partners and stakeholders such as East Ayrshire Council to deliver a stunning development which will become a landmark centre of excellence destination in Scotland.”

It is anticipated the development will be powered by clean renewable energy. As part of the planning application, a renewable energy plan is proposed for the site, which will take the form of a district heating system incorporating PV solar systems and, potentially, a biomass plant.

The Loudoun Castle theme park was opened in the grounds of the 19th century country house in 1995. A number of the park rides have already been sold to other theme parks around the UK since its closure in 2010.

The Vicon team have significant business experience with residential and commercial property projects across Scotland and overseas, and have worked with clients including major pension and private investment funds.

THE EDITORThe Editor of Ayrshire Scotland Business News is Murdoch MacDonald, a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, where his journalistic contemporaries included John Simpson, now World Affairs Editor with the BBC, and Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian. Murdoch MacDonald has been in the public relations industry and a freelance journalist and broadcaster for more than 35 years.He has handled the PR accounts of many top Scottish companies, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, John Menzies, Kwik-Fit and Barratt Homes.

He has hosted his own family finance programmes - "£s, Pence and Sense" on Radio Forth and "Moneywise" on Scottish Television.He now runs Ayrshire’s top PR consultancy Fame Publicity Services.

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Murdoch MacDonald is also managing director of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire.Telephone: 01292 281498E-mail: Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

Murdoch and his wife Lilian (pictured above) have written a book called "Phoenix in a Bottle", describing how they overcame alcoholism and are now, contrary to conventional wisdom, able to drink alcohol responsibly again. "Phoenix in a Bottle" is published by Melrose Books price £16.99 and is now available worldwide.Reviewing the book, eminent American addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele PhD commented:

“Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days of Wine and Roses, and tells the true story of how two people who entered a period of desperate drinking stayed with one another in a close loving relationship, and emerged from their alcoholism able to drink responsibly again.

“Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to conventional wisdom about how people can recover from drinking problems, Phoenix in a Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront their own demons - alcohol or otherwise.”

And now "Phoenix in a Bottle" has been selected as a set text by a top American university.

“Phoenix in a Bottle” by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald will now be required reading for all doctoral students in a psychology programme at Alliant International University in San Diego, California.

Alliant International University, headquartered in San Diego and San Francisco, California, was formed in 2001 by the merger of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and the United States International University. Alliant has 6 campuses throughout California and also runs programmes in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant is one of the premier psychology schools in the US, and it counts roughly half the licensed clinical psychologists in California as its alumni.

Dr. Gary W. Lawson is Professor of Psychology at CSPP. He says: “I adopted Phoenix in a Bottle because the dilemma this couple struggled with and the questions they ask themselves are like so many others I have encountered in 35 years of clinical experience treating addictions.“However, nowhere in addiction literature have I seen these issues examined and explained as well as Lilian and Murdoch do in Phoenix in a Bottle.“I also recommend Phoenix in a Bottle to many of my patients as well.”

You can buy "Phoenix in a Bottle" by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald online now direct from Amazon UK (click on book cover image below).